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First of all, as a Barca fan who hasn't jumped on the bandwagon, I'd say it was a great showing.

As for Utd., Mcmanan said Man U's demise was playing a 4-4-2 against midfield-heavy Barca. I agree to an extent, in my opinion you have to clog Barca's midfield and disrupt their flow. Obviously this isn't nearly as easy as it sounds, but I wonder what it would've been like if Fergie played a 4-3-2-1. I can count on one hand the amount of times Barca played long balls into the box. Flashback to Chelsea's games against us, they played 4-5-1s and forced Xavi and co. to play long balls over the top, and it was severely ineffective. I must admit after the 2nd goal it became just a countdown to the clock though, it became boring. Also a few calls went against United, but that's how it goes sometimes.

I can't see how allowing Valencia to have 4 bookable offences ignored is going against United.
It was actually refreshing to see United try and attack the play, unlike Mourinho's negative tactics for Madrid.

It was, but if a team wants to win it has to destroy Barca's style like RM did in one of the games. Midfielders like Pepe should be able to run here and there to try to intercept the ball and then the team should start a swift counterattack because Barca's defense line isn't perfect as its attacking one.

that's understandable since man u once again beat Arsenal in the EPL..if I were Arsenal fan I would have cheered for Barca also (just kidding )

kidding aside, I agree with Murasaki that if you have to win sometimes you have to play ugly...right now perhaps the only coach who knows how to play against Barca with "some" success is Mourinho and imo, Man U lost because Ferguson wasn't 100% committed into playing defensive...

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Evra's comments weren't the first time he's taken a swipe at Arsenal. What Mascherano said was pretty scathing but ultimately true. Evra is simply a clown.

Their comments aside, I'd rather see United lose any day of the week than Barcelona.

It is true that Evra has been dissing Arsenal. But many of the Barca players have disrespected Arsenal as well, and there is a difference between Evra and Barca. Evra dissed Arsenal to be used as a mind game since they are in the same league as Arsenal. On the other hand Barca players have been dissing Arsenal without having any kind of upcoming match against them.

So from my perspective Barca was much more disrespectful towards Arsenal.

It is true that Evra has been dissing Arsenal. But many of the Barca players have disrespected Arsenal as well, and there is a difference between Evra and Barca. Evra dissed Arsenal to be used as a mind game since they are in the same league as Arsenal. On the other hand Barca players have been dissing Arsenal without having any kind of upcoming match against them.

So from my perspective Barca was much more disrespectful towards Arsenal.

Arsenal for last two seasons talked about how Fabregas should join Barcaelona because Arsenal can't win anything.
So for while many of the Barcaelona players have been talking on how Arsenal can't win titles hence Fabregas should join them.
that is just onehttp://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/...anuary-because
There are even quotes from Messi and Puyol on I believe but I can't find it.

Arsenal for last two seasons talked about how Fabregas should join Barcaelona because Arsenal can't win anything.
So for while many of the Barcaelona players have been talking on how Arsenal can't win titles hence Fabregas should join them.
that is just onehttp://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/...anuary-because
There are even quotes from Messi and Puyol on I believe but I can't find it.

Fair enough. I actually vaguely remember reading Xavi's comments when they came out last year.

Still, it doesn't change my original statement about preferring to see United lose any day over Barcelona. Plus, those comments were both made over 6 months ago. Forgive me not holding onto them and remembering what Evra said around 2 weeks ago.

Holy crap, I remember Messi and Iniesta just talking about letting Fabregas come to Barca, but not Xavi and Puyol in that manner. I agree that's pretty damn disrespectful..

Thing is, I'm sure Cesc knew after wining the World Cup with Spain in a Barca midfield that he wouldn't get the start, as did the whole Barca midfield, so I don't understand why they wanted him so bad. I like Cesc as much as the next guy, but I'd rather see him play out a starting career at Arsenal than go to Barca and get stifled.

On the topic of Arsenal, "we need more big players"-Arsene Wenger. I mean fine you need a big defender(s), but Wenger seems(emphasis on seems) to think that's his only problem..

Holy crap, I remember Messi and Iniesta just talking about letting Fabregas come to Barca, but not Xavi and Puyol in that manner. I agree that's pretty damn disrespectful..

Thing is, I'm sure Cesc knew after wining the World Cup with Spain in a Barca midfield that he wouldn't get the start, as did the whole Barca midfield, so I don't understand why they wanted him so bad. I like Cesc as much as the next guy, but I'd rather see him play out a starting career at Arsenal than go to Barca and get stifled.

On the topic of Arsenal, "we need more big players"-Arsene Wenger. I mean fine you need a big defender(s), but Wenger seems(emphasis on seems) to think that's his only problem..

Did he mean "big" just in terms of size? Because Arsenal really need some experienced vets. Players like Song, Diaby, Chamkah and Bendtner are too inconsistent to rely on.

Did he mean "big" just in terms of size? Because Arsenal really need some experienced vets. Players like Song, Diaby, Chamkah and Bendtner are too inconsistent to rely on.

Yep, he meant only in size. Here's a quote:
Wenger agrees that this needs to be addressed. He said: “We conceded very few goals from open play, most of them were from set-pieces in a way you don’t want to concede goals,” .

“It’s something that’s easy to correct. We need to improve the size of our squad – we need a bigger variety in the height of our players.

“We need to be more capable of fighting against some characteristics than we have been this season.”

It seems that everyone except Wenger realises(or maybe he doesn't care) that he needs an experienced leader in defence and midfield(mostly defence). Wenger has an exceptional eye for young talent but the squad needs to be balanced, and I'm saying nothing new. My sentiments are but an echo of many, many critics' assertions over the last couple years.

Unfortunately, Wenger won't be fired, because he does so well for Arsenal financially, getting great young players cheap and when they get frustrated and leave, they get a great price for them. Plus the framework is pretty much built around Wenger himself, so no matter how much BS he does it'll be tolerated. I don't think I'm being too harsh either, they should've had a league title in the bag recently.

Yep, he meant only in size. Here's a quote:
Wenger agrees that this needs to be addressed. He said: “We conceded very few goals from open play, most of them were from set-pieces in a way you don’t want to concede goals,” .

“It’s something that’s easy to correct. We need to improve the size of our squad – we need a bigger variety in the height of our players.

“We need to be more capable of fighting against some characteristics than we have been this season.”

It seems that everyone except Wenger realises(or maybe he doesn't care) that he needs an experienced leader in defence and midfield(mostly defence). Wenger has an exceptional eye for young talent but the squad needs to be balanced, and I'm saying nothing new. My sentiments are but an echo of many, many critics' assertions over the last couple years.

Unfortunately, Wenger won't be fired, because he does so well for Arsenal financially, getting great young players cheap and when they get frustrated and leave, they get a great price for them. Plus the framework is pretty much built around Wenger himself, so no matter how much BS he does it'll be tolerated. I don't think I'm being too harsh either, they should've had a league title in the bag recently.

Agreed for the most part. The title drought should have definitely ended this year.

From those comments, at least Wengers sounds like he'll finally be aggressive in the transfer period.

Up until now, I think Wenger is just stubborn. When key players from "The Invincibles" team started to leave, the future still looked bright because of the young talent was being compiled or already waiting for their opportunity. Some have progressed nicely while others haven't. There are a few that emerged this year and could be future cornerstones. Regardless, Wenger should have looked to supplement the youth with veteran leadership like you said several years ago.

We've seen the odd signing but not enough have been made in my opinion. I'm praying that finally changes.